2.2 million bottles a day

Glass bottles come off the line glowing red-hot at Longhorn Glass, which is wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev and will soon be pumping out 2.2 million bottles a day for the brewing giant’s Houston operations.

I spent this morning in Jacinto City touring the recently reopened Longhorn Glass Co., which makes 12-ounce amber bottles to be filled with beer at AB-InBev’s Houston brewery.

Manufacturing was halted for 56 days beginning in January as part of a $40 million overhaul that will allow the plant to produce an eye-popping 2.2 million bottles every day. That’s more than 800 million a year.

The plant is staffed by nearly 200 men and women who operate the lines, inspect the bottles, maintain the machinery and get the bottles palleted and ready for the mile-and-a-half trip to the AB-InBev plant.

It was a very interesting tour. And hot, too, as the molten glass can reach temperatures up to 2,800 degrees.

I’ve just turned in a story on the topic for tomorrow’s Business section, and I’ll post a link after it goes live online. (UPDATE: Read the story on page B6 today or click here.) But here’s a video I took that will give you an idea of what it’s like inside. The glowing red flashes are bottles being molded into shape.

Oh, and you might want to turn the volume down on your computer. It’s pretty loud in there.